OneCalifornia's Kat Taylor (top left) with community partners
From my days as a theatre artist, I recall the comic Bill Irwin's delightful performance in "The Regard of Flight." With deadpan delivery, Irwin declared his manifesto to create "a new theatre, that is liberated from the empty polish of the conventional." When his fellow performer inquires, "You're a prophet?" Irwin's response speaks volumes, "No, a non-profit."
I believe many nonprofits experience a similar frustration with charitable giving. We crave "a new philanthropy," one that is free from the constraints of the old paradigms.
It could be that at the Commonwealth Club's forum "Philanthropic Response to the Economy" on Wednesday evening in San Francisco, the audience learned of just this. While leaders from venerable foundations spoke and offered their wisdom on the "significant and dramatic shift in the ecology of the nonprofit sector," as the San Francisco Foundation's CEO Sandra Hernandez put it, one panelist presented a truly fresh perspective on giving. Kat Taylor, Founder of OneCalifornia Bank based in Oakland, offered the evening's most bright-eyed perspective.
"Our fate as individuals is intrinsically involved with everyone with whom we share the planet," Taylor announced. That is the place from which this bank - yes a financial services institution - was founded.
OneCalifornia Bank is a federal, commercial bank regulated by the OTS and the FDC, however it is focused on serving low-wealth communities. The Bank's mission is "to improve economic opportunity for low- to moderate- income communities throughout California, starting in Oakland." Now, banks that engage in lending for affordable housing or small businesses in low-income neighborhoods are not a new idea and CDFI's have been around for decades. But, with 100% of the Bank's profits reinvested in the OneCalifornia Foundation, we might be witnessing "a new philanthropy."
OneCalifornia Bank presents a clarion call for the financial services industry to restructure itself. As Kat Taylor noted, OneCalifornia hopes to have a salutary effect on people's perception of the industry and the capability of business to improve lives. "We embrace markets with eyes wide open ... very much in the Muhammad Yunus way," noted Taylor, referring to the Bangladeshi banker and Nobel prize winner who presented a business game-changer with the concept of micro-credit.
The Bank's self-prescribed triple-bottom line demands that it produce social benefits for its customers, communities and the planet. It focuses its lending on small businesses, community programs, nonprofits and affordable housing. Its giving is similarly focused on economic and community development.
In a speech she gave to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. in 2008, Kat Taylor noted that "the name 'OneCalifornia' is meant to suggest that we are all in one California and, as the fortune of our most vulnerable citizens goes, so goes our own." Taylor does, however, prefer to see the glass half-full and anticipates "a tremendous radiation among the species." Despite its newcomer status (the Bank is only two years old) and its smaller size, OneCalifornia's presence alone on this panel indicates a commitment to be a force in California philanthropy for years to come.
Apart from the fresh perspective of a new-kid-on-the-block, the panelists seemed to be holding their breath, along with so many in the nonprofit sector, waiting to see where the chips will fall.
James Canales, President and CEO of the James Irvine Foundation, acknowledged that, "while the broader economy seems to be getting better ... for nonprofits, this is going to play out over a number of years." For its part, the Irvine Foundation has taken a lead in addressing the state's broken system with the creation of California Forward, a bi-partisan collaboration to advance governance and fiscal reforms for a more accountable system in Sacramento.
Both the Irvine Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation are offering special grant programs to help nonprofits transitioning through these challenging times. The panelists, however, were sober about the coming evolution in the 501(c)(3) sector. As Sandra Hernandez noted, "Organizations must think about resiliency, even as we struggle with survival."
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